What a great turnout at Maker Faire 2017 last weekend! A big shout out to all the awesome organisers, this is one of the best events of the year in Vancouver, hands down!

We taught kids of all ages to solder, as young as 4, and as old as 80! For those following along at home (we have take-home kits!), here’s the how to solder comic we use, as well as the guide to our VHS Blinky Badge kit. There are usually a few kits at VHS in the vending machine if you’d like to give this project a try.

Want to know how the circuit works?
Check out the Falstad simulator version for a pretty visual representation, or read some words about it here!

Not a member or keyholder? Feel free to swing by on any of our open nights. You can use our soldering stations and teach yourself how to solder. We’ll give you a hand if you need one. See you at the space!

WhatOpen House (Noon – 5pm)
Never been to a hack space before? Dying to see the VHS space? This is the perfect time to visit! VHS members will give you a tour around the space, show off some cool projects, and answer any questions you have. Many of our members share an interest in 3D printers, laser cutting, machining, crafting, electronics, robotics, programming, electronic music, and art. We’re also combining this event with World Create Day. Head over to the topic on Talk to find out what World Create Day is about and start your project!

Show and Tell (6pm +)
Have you made something amazing? Are you in the process of building something that will become amazing? Are you just starting out and want to talk to people about your amazing idea? Come down to VHS and tell us about it. Bring your projects!

Super Happy Hacker House (8pm – Late)
Super Happy Hacker House (SHHH) is a social night where members, friends and guests gather for a social night of conversation, adult beverages, lightning talks, and super happy hacker games.

Lightning talks – (11PM)
A lightning talk is VHS’ version of an un-conference, where people do short presentation on any subject that they want. Unlike other presentations at conferences, lightning talks last only a few minutes (2 min or less) and friendly heckling is encouraged.

Our sponsor Dominion Cider has donated cider for the event, which will be available after 8pm.
Remember to BRING YOUR OWN CUP if you want to drink beverages at the space.

Read a great Georgia Straight article about one of our previous open houses/SHHH!
http://www.straight.com/blogra/499266/photos-vancouver-hack-spaces-fifth-anniversary-open-house

Where
1715 Cook Street, Buzzer #104
Vancouver, BC
Limited street parking is available just outside the space. Bikes can be parked in our loading bay for the night or locked up on the bike racks outside the front door.
This map shows all the parking and amenities around the new space.

When
April 22nd from Noon till late (2-3 am)

Who
Everyone! Hackers, Makers, Crafters, Kids, Guests, Members, Friends of VHS, Anyone and Everyone.
If you are under the age of majority (19) then you should bring your parent or guardian with you as well. For those of legal drinking age (19), VHS will have donated beer for the adult-only event that will be available after 8pm.

Blacksmithing

By all accounts the event was a success, and hopefully Spicehammer will bring his equipment in for another try sometime soon. It was a very generous and well appreciated visit.

Lasers and LEDs, oh my!

Our laser cutter tube finally gave up the ghost at the end of February, and we’d have had it running again very quickly if our spare tube wasn’t faulty as well! Once that was diagnosed, our awesome laser maintenance team got us up and running again with all possible speed. But that’s not the cool part. (I mean, it’s cool. but… okay, stop digging!) What’s really cool is what packetbob has decided we should do with the failed spare tube:

I could watch that all day. And once it’s installed at VHS, I just might!

All kinds of interesting projects are created by members and guests at VHS. A few of them get documented on our forum, talk.vanhack.ca. But not everybody follows Talk, so maybe we should show off a few of these on this blog, yeah? Let’s give it a try. Here’s a sampling of things people were working on in February.

Monster Corner Planter

Have you got a big plant? Why not build it a custom home? Baptiste has been building this beautiful organic piece for a while, but he documented the build and the finished result last month.

There were many other interesting projects and ideas shared over the last month, and more still that you could see if you drop by for a visit on one of our Tuesday Open Nights. The only thing we’re missing is your projects; why not join VHS today and add your own flavour to the VHS mix?

Dustin (the VHS Roomba) invites everyone to a a fun-filled night of Roomba repair, hacking, and general playing with these amazing little robots. Some first and second generation roombas will be on hand as well as a few VHSers who are happy to give you tips and help out with repair. It’s easy and very fun! We’ve restored many of these little guys, even one that got wet during a flood.

Some things we can help you with:

overall maintenance on a working Roomba

the infamous circle of death

bumper problems

charging unit problems

stuck brushes and side brushes

missing side brushes

disassembly and reassembly

3D printing replacement gears

Dead Batteries
We can’t help so much with those but batteries will be on hand if you want to test your Roomba. We can also suggest battery sources.

Get a Roomba on the cheap!
Would you like to have a Roomba but don’t want to pay a lot of money? If you can find a broken one on craigslist we can help you fix it. Sometimes these can be picked up for 50 bucks or less Post any ads below if you need help sussing out the suitability of a roomba that is for sale. We recommend the 500 series and up.

Thanks to VHS member Bob, whose donation of IR parts helps make this event possible.

A couple weeks ago, the Neil Squire Society put on a makeathon for people with disabilities with Makers Making Change.

It was an exciting learning opportunity that VHSers were proud to be a part of, and we want to thank everyone for including us! The organisers and participants alike did a fantastic job to make this a successful event. Everyone had a great time, and, more importantly, there was a positive change in the world. We look forward to more collaborations in the future!

More media is still coming in, but check out the official Storify here!

The Access Makeathon is a 48 hour event that connects a person with a disability to a team of makers. Makers will build an open source assistive technology that directly addresses a need of the person they are paired with. It is an opportunity for makers to apply their knowledge and skills to address a real world need of a person. The goal is each team will help a person leave the event with a working prototype that improves their quality of life.

We are very excited to open our doors to Access Makeathon participants, and we’re looking forward to seeing your creative ideas for improving people’s lives and helping you realize them.